PLEASE HELP!!! need immediate advice

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Permalink Reply by Glenn Molenaar on June 18, 2009 at 9:09pm

When you go to loghomereports.com watch the way dates of reports came in. It looks like some over enthused sales people asked for them. Also check and see who own's SLH I prefer my money stays in the USA.
Glenn

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Permalink Reply by Craigmandu on June 19, 2009 at 8:49am

I'll give you a quick run-down of my experiences with them, I have chosen not to use them at all for any reason, not even plans.

I've visited most of their models in NC and tried to visit the one in Fredricksburg Va. In their models I noticed many times that the doors didn't seem to close right, some of the windows I couldn't get to open etc... In each case I was told that was relatively normal in a log home and they just needed "adjusted" (which made me wonder why there weren't "adjusted" if the home is what buyers are basing decisions off of).

Then I got really turned off after visiting their Fredricksburg model.... We went up on a Saturday in which they were suppose to be open and instead found a note on the door saying "at an appointment, with a phone number to call. I thought that was a little odd since Saturday is the only day they are open when working people have off. So we called and the rep said that Southland had a critical need for him to cover an "event" and he wouldn't be able to show it to us that day.

That upset me a little as I had driven 180 miles to look at this model and they didn't have anyone to show it to me or talk to me or anything. So I e-mailed Southland and basically said just that and also inquired to the price of that particular model. That was a week ago and I haven't gotten any type of feedback whatsoever. The more I deal with them the less I want to take a risk of them having any of my money. It just doesn't feel like I'll be happy with their communication or response. The bad part is they have a couple of models I really like.

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Permalink Reply by Martin Doebel on June 19, 2009 at 10:15am

I appreciate the responses. He needs to make a decision within the next few days. He has also been looking at Katahdin log homes. Does anyone have any experience or knowdege of that manufacturer?

Thanks again,

Martin

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Permalink Reply by Terry & Shelley S on June 19, 2009 at 10:36am

Martin, what a great brother you are!! It took me a few minutes, but I found a discussion from August 2008 started by one of members, Elaine, pertaining to Southland Log Homes. You might want to check it out!! Hope this helps.



http://www.loghomeu.com/forum/topic/show?id=2011711%3ATopic%3A11520


Shelley S.

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Permalink Reply by Craigmandu on June 19, 2009 at 11:05am

If you read that link Shelley gave, and the subsequent "Blog" post that is linked on page 2 of the linked thread, you will no doubt come to same conclusion I have:

NO WAY IN HELL does Southland get my business!

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Permalink Reply by Terry & Shelley S on June 19, 2009 at 2:29pm

I'm glad you found the link helpful. It's tough your brother only has a few days to decide. Where is he building?

My husband and I, like many other members, have spent countless hours reading log home magazines, attending log home shows, workshops, seminars, etc. What we found was every log home company were pretty much the same as far as the game they talked. The biggest difference was in their package contents. This made it very hard to compare them to see who was really giving you the better deal. At one point, we thought we'd finally found the company we wanted to deal with, even paid for their preliminary plan service but when their turn key price turned out to be 2.5 times what they knew our budget was..... quite frankly, we were offended!! How could they think we were that stupid!

So we've decided to cut out the 'middle man' and go with a contractor/builder with experience building log homes to buiid our home from scratch. This may be something your brother may want to consider if possible. Might save him some money!

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Permalink Reply by Martin Doebel on June 20, 2009 at 4:15pm

Hello Everyone,

First off, I would like to say thank you to all those who took the time from their day to respond to my post. My brother has made his decision and had signed a contract with Katahdin Log Homes this morning. He chose them because of the quality of the materials and he was also very comfortable with the dealer who also happens to be the builder. My brother is a contractor as well, although the last "log home" he built was many years ago. My brother is going to be part of the builders crew working everyday to help construct his new home.

Shelley,

My brother is building in Robeson County in North Carolina. He purchased fifty acres there about a year ago. He and his wife were selling their farm house in upstate NY right before the real eestate market crashed,(dumb luck). Anyway, a women saw their farm house, fell in love with it and offered to the buy the house at full asking price in cash but they had to be out within 30 days!!! My brother immediately went down to NC to build the barn for their horses so when the house was sold they at least had a secure facility for their animals. He built a big timber Amish style barn with a friend and my help and we had the whole project completed within 4 weeks.

They are living on the property in a small camper and they simply cannot continue to live that way. So that is why he needed to make a desion right away and get the ball rolling. I passed along all your comments as well as reviews from that other website. Again thanks to all who gave their opinions.....(Now I have a nice place to visit from my home state of Florida to do a little hunting...LOL).

Kind regards to you and your families,

Martin

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Permalink Reply by Jon Dowell on July 27, 2009 at 12:58pm

If you want a great log home custom built in NC area, check out my website at www.jdinteriors.org. We have built Southlands,Appalachian, and Honest Abe and more. The logs matter, but the builder must know what he is doing... JD Interiors offers Quality, Green, and detail.

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